Let's Break Him Out
by ImpulsesOfLife
Summary: The Giant war is almost over, and Annabeth, Percy & Nico are searching an abandoned warehouse for clues. When Percy gets stabbed in his Achilles' heel and, ultimately, killed, Annabeth takes on the task of finding Percy in Elysium and breaking him out—because she knows their love can't die when they're only sixteen. (Set after HoH.)
1. Chapter 1: The Death

**A/N: Hi guys! Okay, so a bit of an explanation:**

 **Normally I don't love when people write fics about Percy or Annabeth dying, because they're so depressing and I feel like no one can accurately portray either of them dying and then the other's reaction. But I was listening a song, and, ironically, it inspired me to write this fic about Percy dying. (I know, I know, I'm a hypocrite, but I had this idea that I felt like I needed to share.) So yes, this is a fic about Percy dying… but there's something different about it: In the end, maybe Percy lives after all…**

 **The characters may be slightly OOC (hopefully not too much but it happens sometimes) and also, for the purposes of this story, Percy still has the Curse of Achilles.**

 **Anyways, this story will be a 4-chapter fic that I'll post a chapter of once every two days.**

 **Also—I love to hear genuine opinions on how my writing is/was and how I can improve it, so with that said, any opinions are appreciated :)**

 **And finally, sorry about that horrifically long Author's Note (but kudos to you if you read it!)**

 **On with the story!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO; All rights belong to Rick Riordan.**

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 **Annabeth's POV**

Annabeth fell to her knees with a sob.

"Percy…" she whispered, her voice hoarse and broken. But Percy lay motionless. He was gone.

"No. No. _No._ This _cannot_ be happening. NO!" cried Annabeth, her grieving whispers turning into desperate, angry calls of protest. "Somebody _do_ something!" she yelled furiously, trying to wipe away the tears flowing fast from her eyes. Annabeth removed the sword an enemy demigod, Markus Abaddon, had thrust through Percy's back, and tried to administer CPR to Percy in a desperate attempt to save him. Nothing happened.

"I… No… Percy…" Annabeth slumped in defeat. She couldn't absorb what had just happened. Markus, who was working with the giants, had killed Percy with ease by sneaking up behind the two of them and just piercing his sword into the small of Percy's back—his Achilles' heel—which was the only way to kill him. Annabeth had no idea how Markus had known about Percy's Achilles' heel, but he'd done it, and it had worked. Percy was dead.

Annabeth choked out another sob and touched Percy's shoulder lightly, starting to cry hard now. "Seaweed Brain… How could you have been so stupid?" she whispered in a small, shellshocked voice she'd never heard come from herself. Then she scolded herself. Percy's death had been as much her fault as it had been his. They hadn't been paying attention.

They should've been paying attention.

Someone put their hand on Annabeth's shoulder. She whipped her head around, glaring. " _What?_ " She had absolutely no desire to talk to anyone right now. She wanted to mourn. She needed to be alone with Percy and her thoughts.

It was her half-brother, Malcolm. He yanked his hand back, shocked by Annabeth's uncharacteristic frostiness towards him. "Um… I just wanted to know what was wrong. _Oh_ —Oh, gods. Percy… Is he…" Malcolm trailed off.

" _Yes,_ he's dead!" cried Annabeth. "Just _look_ at him!" She thrust her hand towards Percy's limp body and his blood-soaked t-shirt, meeting Malcolm's gaze. What she saw in his eyes, rather than rude curiosity, was a puzzled look of sorrow. His confusion, his _innocence_ in this situation of her best friend, boyfriend and saviour's death, broke down Annabeth's wall of impassivity. She opened and closed her mouth, blubbering like a fish, and then stood up, threw her arms around Malcolm and started sobbing into his shoulders.

Malcolm silently hugged back.

"Perce…" she whispered, wanting him to talk. Malcolm grabbed the bait. "He didn't deserve to die," he assured her. "But Annabeth, you can't spend your whole life mourning over him. Yes, he was your boyfriend and best friend. Yes, he was a hero. Yes, you loved him with every inch of your heart, mind and soul. But he wouldn't want it this way and you know it. He'd want you to live a full, happy life."

Annabeth nodded slowly, but then realization struck hard and she said, "I can't… live a full life… without Percy…"

Malcolm stopped hugging her, grabbed her shoulders, and looked her in the eye. "Annabeth. Don't be stupid. It'll be hard, but you _keep going._ You _persevere._ Yes, you mourn his death—you _were_ in love, for gods' sake—but then you continue with your life, and you can hold a special place for him in your heart, always."

Annabeth jerked out of his grasp. "Are," she whispered, offended. "We _are_ in love. And I'm not just going to keep on living my life missing him like I know I will." She whirled around and started stomping away, calling over her shoulder to Malcolm, "I'm going to see Nico. He'll take me to the Underworld, and I swear to _all_ the gods, I _will_ get Percy back—even if it's the last thing I do." With that, she exited the room she, Percy and Malcolm had been searching through and stalked off through the rest of the building in search of Nico.

Annabeth Chase was a woman of action, and one of her biggest pet peeves was when people sat around doing nothing while they could be doing _something._ She knew she couldn't just let Percy die. This was the perfect opportunity for her to act, the perfect opportunity for her to do something.

She was going to get Percy back again, one way or another. Annabeth had never been more determined to do something in her entire life.

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 **That's the end of the first chapter! A little on the short side, but hopefully it's still good. Next chapter will be up in 2 days!**


	2. Chapter 2: Finding Nico

**Hi guys, it's chapter 2 ;) Hope you like it, but basically these first chapters are a build-up for the last one, where the real plot happens (in my opinion).**

 **Thanks to:**

 **ThatRandomMooshroom for the Review; I get how you feel about the feels :)**

 **FoggyNights.p2, HeroesofOlympusJustin and LaSauterelle for the Follows :D**

 **Seriously though, I really appreciate the Review & Follows :)**

 **Disclaimer: Last time I checked, I'm not a middle-aged famous male author… (lol the most cliché of disclaimer lines!) Anyways, I don't own PJO or HoO, everything belongs to Rick Riordan.**

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 **Annabeth's POV**

Annabeth stalked off through the building in search of Nico. At this rate, with him trying to keep on the down-low throughout his search and with the building being thirteen stories high, it could take her all day to find him.

"Nico?" she called tentatively as she poked her head inside yet another room. There had been no sign of him thus far, and she was already on the sixth floor. When no one answered her, she moved on to the next room.

Annabeth continued to check rooms quickly and stealthily in pursuit of Nico, but it was only when she arrived at the eleventh floor did she find a trace of him. Lying on the ground was a minuscule Hades Mythomagic figurine which portrayed the god clothed in all black, and wearing the Helm of Darkness. Annabeth picked up the figurine and slipped it into the pocket of her jean shorts. Nico had recently started carrying around some of his Mythomagic collectibles again—but mainly just the Hades figurine—after he'd escaped from Tartarus. The young boy, who had been addicted to the game less than a couple years earlier, claimed he now carried around the figurine because it reminded him of his sister Bianca, who'd died shortly after the two of them had discovered they were demigods. Bianca had spotted a Mythomagic figurine in the Junkyard of the Gods, and had tried to collect it for Nico—but she hadn't known you couldn't take from the Junkyard, a trap had been activated, and Bianca was killed. Nico was devastated and had blamed it all on Percy, who'd sworn to protect her. He'd resented Percy for the longest time, but now, they were cool with each other and all was forgiven.

Annabeth was pretty sure Nico was going to want to help her resurrect Percy.

She continued searching the eleventh floor, calling Nico's name ten times a minute in hopes he was nearby. Finally, she climbed the stairs to the twelfth floor, and just as she was about to call out Nico's name once again she spotted him slipping into a room with a gold plaque reading _Dr. James Bennison_.

"Nico!" called out Annabeth, relieved. But then she remembered _why_ she was up here looking for Nico and bit her lip to keep herself from crying.

Nico popped his head into the hallway. "Annabeth? What are you doing up here?"

She ran over to him and they walked into Dr. Bennison's office together. Nico walked to the back of the room and sat behind Dr. Bennison's huge mahogany desk in a large, plush-looking leather chair. Annabeth sat stiffly in the small office chair positioned across from him. To a spectator's point of view, it would look as if Annabeth had come to Nico for aid—which was, in fact, pretty close to the truth.

"So," prompted Nico. "Did you find something to do with the giants' army on the lower floors? Is that why you came up here—to alert me or something?" he said a bit impatiently.

Annabeth shook her head and looked down. "Nico, I… Percy…" She could feel her eyes watering, but she pressed her nails into her palms and tried to hold back the tears. When she removed her nails, there were five tiny crescent-shaped marks lining each of her palms. "Nico, Percy was killed."

Nico stared at her for a moment, and then burst into a fit of laughter. He took gasping breaths and wiped a tear from his eye. But when he looked at Annabeth, she was still completely serious, and now looking on the verge of breaking down.

Annabeth gave him a look of utter disbelief. "I can't believe you're laughing right now."

Nico blinked a couple times and frowned. "You can't be serious. He's _Percy freaking Jackson._ He can't just _die._ You can cut the act now." He looked behind Annabeth and yelled, "Percy! Come out! I know it's a prank!" No one answered. A single tear escaped from Annabeth's eye. It slid down her cheek and dropped onto her jean shorts. Nico's frown deepened. "Perce?" he called. Still no answer. Annabeth shook her head. "Nico, he's gone. That's why I'm here. I need your help."

"You mean… No. Percy… He's really… Gone?" Nico's voice cracked on his last word.

"Um. Yeah. He's… Well, no. Sort of. Nico, I know there's a way to get him back. I have this idea…"

Annabeth explained her plan to Nico—to shadow-travel to the Underworld, find Percy in Elysium, consult Hades and then bring him back up to the real world. She didn't see how this plan could go wrong—who wouldn't want to save Percy? He'd saved the gods' butts millions of times by now. Only monsters wanted him dead. She _knew_ she could save him. But there was always a possibility that a plan wouldn't work out or go according to the script. And, well, if for some reason she _couldn't_ save Percy in the end…? Then Plan B was to stay in Elysium with him.

Nico nodded along as Annabeth explained. "Shadow-travel you? I can do that. And believe me, I want to save Percy just as much as you do." Nico took a deep breath and exhaled. "We have to go quickly, though, and inconspicuously. Plus we have to get Percy before anyone else notices he's dead. And speaking of anyone else noticing—we're _not_ going to tell my dad."

Annabeth stared at him. "What?"

Nico stared right back. "I _said,_ we're not going to tell my dad. Hades will alert Thanatos, and that guy doesn't let anyone cheat death. I hate to break it to you, Annabeth, but he's not going to make an exception for Percy just because he saved the world like so many other demigods before him. Death is death. So if you want Percy back, we're going to have to sneak in there without telling anyone and then break him out."

Annabeth nodded, her thought train running a hundred miles per hour. "Okay. Okay, yeah. Let's go break him out. When's the best time to do this?"

Nico stood up and walked around to the front of the desk, where he stood facing Annabeth. The demigod looked solemn and grim, as if he were preparing for war. "Right now."

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 **So that was that! Oh, and sorry if the chapters so far haven't been especially long. The next two will be a** **longer (although I don't know** ** _how_** **much longer... I was originally going to do one more chapter, but it was getting really long so I turned it into two).**

 **Also, if you have suggestions about anything at all, feel free to Review or PM me with them :) I already have a couple things planned and I basically wrote the ending already, so if anyone suggests something I already wrote into the story I'll let them know what happens ahead of time :D**

 **Next update will be in 2 days!**


	3. Chapter 3: Elysium

**Hi :D Chapter 3 has arrived!**

 **Thanks to:**

 **m. sobeee (sorry I couldn't spell your screen name with the correct spacing, it wouldn't work) & Bea7 for following :)**

 **m. sobeee, Bea7 & Brsrkfury for favouriting :)**

 **Disclaimer: PJO ne m'appartient pas! (Lolz, I speak French!) Tout appartient à Rick Riordan.**

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 **Percy's POV**

To be one hundred percent honest, Percy had had _no_ clue he was going to die that day. It just seemed so unexpected, so _unrealistic_. The only person he'd ever told about his Achilles' heel was… Annabeth. But obviously she wouldn't have told anyone, so it was still a mystery to Percy how that gods forsaken kid Markus had even known where to stab him.

When Percy arrived in the Underworld, he pretty much got accepted into Elysium right away—no big fuss, no "Oh, well maybe we should just leave him in the Fields of Asphodel." Just straight to Elysium, the supposed paradise of the Underworld.

And Percy had to admit, the place _was_ pretty nice.

Elysium was like one giant city. Since only the bravest and most accomplished of heroes came there after death, it didn't need to be expanded much, so it actually seemed fairly quaint (that was a word Annabeth had taught him before… Oh, gods, before he'd _died_ ) and homey to Percy.

One section of Elysium was devoted to high-rise apartment buildings; these were sleek, modern and new, with red, orange and yellow accent panels up and down the sides. Shining silver bridges connected the tops of the apartment buildings, so you could walk from the top of one building to the top of another. It sort of formed little arcs between all the buildings. With a sigh, Percy realized this was something Annabeth would love to see. She had a thing for amazing architecture, being a daughter of Athena and all plus an aspiring architect herself.

Another section of Elysium was like a Hawaiian beach paradise: white sands, turquoise waters, and picturesque little beach cottages similar to the run-down–but–charming ones you saw oceanfront in movies and television shows. Annabeth surely would've made a remark about how gorgeous but stereotypically 'Perfect Beach Life' this area was.

Yet another section of Elysium, which at this point seemed like a world of its own, featured a camping-style scene with tents and tent trailers, campfires, a looming green forest and a sparkling, crystal-clear lake. The lake reminded him of one thing and one thing only: the lake at Camp Half-Blood, where Percy and Annabeth had shared their first real kiss.

The whole place was nothing short of amazing, but… Everything here reminded Percy of Annabeth, and the life he'd left behind. The life he _hadn't wanted_ to leave behind. Percy had wanted to live a full, happy demigod life with Annabeth—and then after that, he'd thought about them moving into a beach cottage together when they'd come here at the end of their lifespans. About Annabeth designing a whole new sector of Elysium, continuing to strive for the creation of architectural perfections even in death. About the kids they would've had, living their lives in the world above, wondering about him and Annabeth down in Elysium.

None of that could happen now, though, because Percy had just died and come here alone eighty years too early.

Once all this war mess had blown over, Percy had envisioned their lives being the embodiment of perfection (for a demigod, that was). They'd still have battles to fight and training to accomplish, but the two of them could go to college in New Rome and have kids and that alone would be their own little perfection. But that vision was so plainly ruined now.

Percy shook his head and stared longingly out at the ocean, where he'd stopped to think. None of this potentially amazing afterlife stuff was going to be the same without Annabeth. Percy sighed and tore off his shirt, jumping into the water. He hoped the one place that never failed to calm him would clear his mind of Annabeth and just how much he was missing her right then.

• • •

 **Annabeth's POV**

Annabeth grabbed onto Nico's arm. The two were still in Dr. Bennison's office, and Nico was about to shadow-travel them to the Underworld—straight into Elysium, to be exact. Annabeth jittered her leg nervously as Nico spoke. "It'll only take a few seconds for us to get there," he reminded her. "So… Um, just close your eyes if you feel motion-sick, and once we're in Elysium, do _not_ let me out of your sight," finished Nico sternly.

Annabeth already knew the Underworld was huge—and being that she was a daughter of Athena, she could easily infer what Nico was trying to say: If Annabeth lost sight of him, she would undeniably get lost in the depths of the Underworld… Possibly for the rest of her own living life.

Annabeth felt a tug on her gut. She discerned from the feeling that she was not only disappearing from where she stood, but from the world as well. It felt like the universe was trying to tear her apart to no avail. Annabeth recognized this odd sensation as Nico shadow-travelling her.

After a short (but highly unpleasant) moment, the two of them stood in Elysium. Annabeth looked around. She was surrounded by various tall apartment buildings. Spanning across the gaps from rooftop to rooftop were simple silver bridges. It was something she'd never seen before, and it was definitely cool—Annabeth herself wished she could've come up with the idea of bridge-connected buildings. It was clear Elysium was designed and constructed by the most gifted and intelligent of gods, and maybe demigods, too.

Annabeth let go of Nico's arm as he beaconed for her to follow him. She tried to keep her eyes on Nico, but _gods_ the architecture was beautiful and she needed to get new inspiration for Olympus and she couldn't miss a thing or— _Snap out of it, Annabeth_ , she scolded herself. She tore her gaze away from the buildings and fixed it on Nico instead. She couldn't loose track of him; doing so could cost her her life.

Nico stopped suddenly, and Annabeth almost ran into him. He turned to face her.

"I'm not too sure where Percy is, but we can probably get away with Iris messaging him," said Nico. He quickly searched through his pockets and pulled a few things from them. Then he looked towards Annabeth guiltily. "Got any drachmas?" He showed her his handful of pocket objects: A Canadian penny, a piece of lint, a rubber band and his Hades Mythomagic figurine (which Annabeth had returned to him earlier). Annabeth rolled her eyes and dug through her own pockets, pulling out three golden drachmas and two hair ties. She handed a drachma to Nico and stuffed the other two coins and hair ties back into her jean shorts.

Nico looked around for a second before heading off towards the nearest apartment building, motioning for Annabeth to follow him. They entered the building and ran for the nearest room. Nico twisted the doorknob and pushed open the wooden door without effort—they all remained unlocked, he explained—and they ran into the bathroom. Annabeth rotated the shower head setting to Mist and turned it on.

"Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept our offering," chanted Nico. He threw the drachma into the spray coming from the shower and it disappeared. "Show us Perseus Jackson, Elysium," requested Annabeth, her voice shaking as she said Percy's name.

The mist shimmered for a second, and then Percy came into view. Annabeth's heart galloped a million miles a minute. _Percy._ He sported the same wind-blown jet-black hair, the same sea-green eyes, the same Camp Half-Blood tee and the same camp necklace as he had when he was alive. He was gorgeous (but in a manly way, of course). It made her mind tired and her heart sore, seeing him look the same even in death. It was almost as if he _wasn't_ dead. And maybe soon, he wouldn't be.

Annabeth looked over at Nico. His brow was furrowed in concentration. She figured he was trying to decipher where it was that Percy was standing.

He was in front of a vast blue ocean, and Annabeth and Nico were looking at him from the side. His hair looked slightly damp, as if he'd recently been swimming. A look of longing was plastered on his face. Percy stared out at the ocean as if he'd lost something he wouldn't be getting back.

"Percy?" whispered Annabeth. Percy's head whipped to the side, and at the sight of Annabeth and Nico he instantly brightened. "Annabeth," he replied with a smile, his eyes gleaming and full of love. "How… Um, how are you?"

Annabeth raised her head to the sky and blinked a few times, trying to keep her composure. She looked back down at Percy. Her eyes shone with the tears she was attempting to keep back. "Percy, I miss you," she said in a small voice. "I miss you so, so much." She pinched the bridge of her nose and kept talking. "I love you, and I can't even imagine dying, even though I've come close to death more times than I can count. You're insanely vital to our success in the battle against the giants, you're loved by _so_ many people, and you changed our lives for the better when you came to camp—especially mine. We need you, Percy. Nico and I came to get you out of here."

Percy's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Annabeth, I love you—I'd risk my life for you—and you know it. But it's not fair to take me out of the Underworld. I'm already dead. _Someone_ will notice. As much as I want to live a life with you… _Gods_ , Annabeth, you have no _idea_ how much I want to live a life with you—I can't cheat death. I can't come back."

Annabeth raised her hands in a _Why the hell not?_ gesture. "Percy, Hazel cheated death and she's fine! No one's killed her again or brought her back to the Underworld! And no one minds that she spent a few… Actually, _more_ than a few decades as a ghost in the Fields of Asphodel. You can't just _not_ take this opportunity. It's now or never, Percy, so _please_ , just come with us. I need you." Annabeth knew exactly how desperate and weak she sounded, but at this point, she didn't care. If showing how she really felt was what it would take to get Percy back, then showing her feelings was just what she'd have to do.

Percy sighed. "I love you too. More than anything. And I miss you like crazy, too. You _do_ know that, right?" Annabeth nodded. "M'kay. I still think it's unfair, but… I'll come back."

Annabeth smiled like she'd just won the lottery. (And just for the record… She thought Percy was _way_ better than any amount of cash in the world.) "Thank the gods. So where are you, anyway?"

A hint of a smile ghosted over Percy's face. "Well, obviously I'm in Elysium. And I'm by an ocean. And I think a sign a little ways back said something about…" Percy's voice started to get quiet and tinny. His image flickered. Annabeth was surprised the Iris message had lasted this long, but clearly their time was up.

"Percy. Percy, louder. Where are you?"

"Cry—Chriss—Um… Christeanum Beach Way? I… I don't know! I couldn't read the sign! Stupid dyslexia! Just… Just… I don't know!"

Nico suddenly perked up, comprehending where Percy was trying to tell them he was. "Percy, are you trying to say _Chrysanthemum_ Beach Way?" he yelled at the top of his lungs. Percy's image was almost completely gone now.

"Yeah!" cried Percy. "Yeah! Meet me there!"

The Iris message faded, and Annabeth and Nico were alone and Percy-less once again.

• • •

 **Percy's POV**

As soon as the Iris message disconnected, Percy immediately regained his feelings of longing. He longed for Annabeth, he longed for a life with her and he longed for a life, period. Maybe now that Annabeth and Nico had come to whisk him away back to the mortal world, that life could still happen.

Percy dusted some sand off his Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and decided to head to a nearby cottage where he could wait for Annabeth and Nico. _Annabeth_. He wanted to be with her so badly right now.

He knocked on the door of a faded blue, rustic-looking little cottage. He wasn't sure if any of the old beach shacks had habitants, so he figured better to knock first. Luckily (and as usual), his instincts were right, because a couple seconds after he knocked a young woman's singsongy voice trilled, "Coming!" and he heard the soft padding of footsteps coming from inside.

A minute later the woman opened the door, and the sight shocked Percy.

Standing inside, looking as immaculate as usual, was none other than Silena Beauregard.

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 **I was debating whether or not to end the chapter there or continue, but I decided to leave it where it was. Also, I decided to make two more chapters instead of just one, because otherwise the one chapter would've gotten really long and its size would've been super inconsistent compared to the rest of the chapters. BUT I'll post them at the same time so there's no wait :D**

 **Please Review if you have time and Follow & Favourite! I've only gotten one Review so far, so I'd be super happy to get some more :) And also, if you have suggestions on how I can improve my writing, questions, or anything you'd like to tell me, feel free to PM me or ask questions in a Review.**

 **Next (and final) two chapters will be posted in two days!**


	4. Chapter 4: Attacked

**Hi! It's the last 2 chapters :O Sorry I took an extra day to update… It took a lot longer than expected to write these chapters! They're super long, so hopefully you enjoy them :) These ones are probably (for the most part) more comedic than depressing.**

 **Thanks to:**

 **m. sobeee for the Review~ Thanks, I'm glad you like it! :)**

 **chcedcharry & TotallyCray-Cray for favouriting :D**

 **chcedcharry for following :)**

 **I also wanted to say a collective THANK YOU! to everyone who Reviewed, Favourited or Followed this story while I was writing it and anyone who does in the future.**

 **Sorry if Annabeth (or any of the other characters, for that matter) is a bit OOC :| I couldn't decide how to write things exactly how Annabeth would think or act, so I just re-invented her a tiny bit.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO—all rights belong to Rick Riordan. I also don't own Coach or Armani, and everything written about them/their products is 100% fictional because I know nothing about expensive designer fashion. I ALSO don't own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (I don't know if I have to disclaim that, but just to be safe, there it is in writing).**

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 **Percy's POV**

A few minutes later Percy was inside, seated on a soft blue couch and talking with Silena. He explained why he was in the Underworld dead, and she told of how her and Beckendorf's lives had been since they'd been in Elysium.

"I'm so sorry," said Percy guiltily. "You never deserved to die and… To be honest, I sort of feel responsible for it all."

"Don't be! It's completely peaceful and one-hundred-percent stress-free down here," buzzed Silena. "I'm with Charlie, and he's the love of my life. I'm doing great. It must be hard for _you_ without Annabeth—I know for a fact it was hard on Charlie for that first little while he was here without me, but he waited and I came. You just have to have patience."

Percy groaned and smacked his head. "I'm an ADHD demigod, Silena, I don't _have_ eighty years of patience within me. Besides, Annabeth and Nico decided they're coming to break me out," he admitted.

Silena gasped. "For serious? That's awesome for you guys! So when'll they be here? I can't wait to see Annabeth!" she gushed.

"Um, I'm actually not sure," he confessed. "Soon, I think."

"Aw, that's great," praised Silena.

"Yeah. So, uh, where's Beckendorf?" asked Percy.

"Oh! He's at work."

"Work…?" he questioned, waiting for Silena to elaborate (and wishing Beckendorf were here instead of at work).

"Yeah! You know how he loves the forge and making things and stuff. So he got a job doing those kinds of things! He creates new stuff with his Hephaestus kid skills and donates that stuff around Elysium to help improve buildings, houses, parks, appliances, and everything else here."

"Cool," he said. "What does he get for it?"

"Absolutely nothing," smiled Silena. That kind of shocked Percy; But then again, everyone here was dead. It wasn't like they needed food or money to survive. "It helps a ton with the stress-free life I was talking about earlier. Now Charlie gets to forge for the fun of it, and I get to help fashion design, put together runway shows, and help with home decor—all with no expenses to pay! It's so great finally being able to get those _super_ soft but super expensive black and white indigenous patterned cashmere-Kuba velvet-cotton blend curtains that Armani released a couple years ago! They're totally amazing. Only _billionaires_ have them. Well, billionaires and me! Oh, and did you know that Armani was going to buy Coach? Because I didn't! I just found out and I was totally shocked because who would buy _Coach_ , right, I mean come _on_ …"

Percy nodded along with what she was saying, trying not to zone out while Silena talked about fashion brands. He thanked the gods Annabeth wasn't extremely girly like Silena—even her architecture spiels were better than this.

"Charlie and I are even building a house together!" exclaimed Silena giddily, snapping Percy out of his thoughts.

Percy's eyes widened. They were building a house? He had no idea how they'd gotten to _that_ topic, but still, pretty impressive.

Just then the _squeeeeak_ of the cottage door opening sounded throughout the room, and a man's voice called, "Honey, I'm home!" It was the most stereotypical "Life as an adult" scenario Percy had ever seen in real life, and he fought back the urge to laugh—but at the same time, it was kind of cute.

Beckendorf walked into the small living room, clad in worn work boots and overalls covered in burn marks and grease. He looked even tougher and buffer than he had back at camp, and that was saying something. "Hey, Si—Percy!" cried Beckendorf, walking over to Percy. He gave him a guy hug, slapping his hand on his back. Beckendorf was so strong, Percy felt like he was being crushed a little.

Beckendorf smiled at the two of them. "So Percy, what are you doing in the Underworld? Need something down here to help you save the world?" he grinned.

Percy didn't. "Uh, actually, no. I'm… Dead." _Wow_ , it felt awkward saying that.

Beckendorf's eyes widened and the grin slid off his face. " _What?_ "

Percy nodded. "Yeah. Someone stabbed me in the back—literally." Beckendorf looked shocked, as if he didn't believe this could happen.

"No way. How in Hades…? You know what, let's just not talk about it. Is Annabeth…?"

"Annabeth's alive. Actually, she's coming with Nico to get me out of here."

"Sweet," said Beckendorf. "Well—" A knock on the door interrupted him, and he went to see who it was. Percy and Silena trailed along behind him.

Beckendorf opened the door to find a bedraggled Annabeth and an exhausted-looking Nico. The poor guy looked like he was about to pass out.

"Hi, I'm looking for—" Annabeth stopped short when she realized Percy standing before her.

"Percy!" cried Annabeth, jumping into his waiting arms and wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace. "Gods, Percy, I missed you so much…" She burrowed her head in his neck. "How could you've been such a Seaweed Brain, getting yourself killed like that?" Percy smiled and hugged her back tightly. He hugged like if he let her go, she'd disappear again. "I missed you too, Wise Girl."

Silena cooed, "Aww!" and they disentangled themselves, Percy keeping his arm around Annabeth's shoulder. "You guys are so cute together. It took you for _ever_ to start dating. I've been waiting for this moment for years!" she squealed.

Percy blushed and looked Annabeth in the eyes. Her grey irises were stunning and dangerous, as usual, but he could see that hidden behind her eyes was something she was trying to hold back: A boatload of affection. That made Percy blush even more. He kissed her on the lips, long and soft, and when he pulled back, Annabeth closed her eyes and inhaled. "I missed your smell," she admitted. Percy didn't think his face could get any closer to the bright red shade of a tomato, but with that last comment, it did. He smiled, hoping he didn't look too ridiculous.

Percy heard a thud and looked over to the front door, where he saw Nico slumped on the floor. The son of Hades let out a loud snore. Percy had no idea how the kid had fallen asleep so fast, but clearly all the shadow-travelling he'd been doing had wiped him out.

Percy snorted. Annabeth's mouth opened a little and she raised her eyebrows at Nico, who was now sawing logs against the door frame. She shook her head, shrugged, and motioned for Percy to help her pick him up. Percy grabbed underneath his shoulders and Annabeth helped support his feet. Together, they carried Nico into the living room and deposited him on the couch.

"Silena," asked Annabeth, "Do you mind if we just crash here for tonight?"

"Go right ahead!" shrieked Silena. "Percabeth live and in action!"

" _What?_ " him and Annabeth questioned in unison.

"I _said,_ Percabeth live and in action! Now I can watch you guys do all your cute couple-y stuff!" she exclaimed excitedly. _Once an Aphrodite kid, always an Aphrodite kid,_ thought Percy.

Percy glanced at Annabeth and they exchanged a look of embarrassment. "Um, Silena, we've been through a lot today. I think we're just going to go to bed," said Percy, effectively saving him and Annabeth from Silena's romantic obsession with them.

"Oh," said Silena, clearly disappointed. "I guess… See you in the morning, then?" she pouted.

"Absolutely," assured Annabeth. "We'll be waking ourselves up at six—" Percy shot Annabeth a death glare for that one… He did _not_ want to wake up at that ungodly hour, "—so we can get out of here while everyone else in Elysium is still asleep. That is, if you even sleep down here…?"

"Oh yeah, we sleep. And okay," agreed Silena. "I'll wake up with you. And I'll wake Charlie up, too."

Percy was pretty sure Beckendorf didn't want to be woken up at six just so he could say goodbye to them, which he could do right then instead, but he didn't point that out and Beckendorf kept his mouth shut.

"You can sleep in the guest bedroom down the hall," said Silena, leading them down a narrow and dimly lit hallway to a small bedroom. Inside was nothing but a dresser and a single queen-sized bed. Percy raised his eyebrows—one bed?—but again, he didn't say anything. Him and Annabeth were responsible and they trusted each other. Nothing would happen.

"Goodnight!" bid Silena. "Don't let the bedbugs bite!" With that she pushed him and Annabeth into the bedroom and flounced back out. Then, realizing a few things, she turned right back around. "Oh! Nico can sleep on the couch, if you were wondering where he'd stay; Annabeth, there's a spare pair of pyjamas in the dresser for you, and Percy… Hm. I'll go grab you a pair of Charlie's pyjama pants." Percy was about to protest, but Silena was already skipping down the hall towards her shared bedroom with Beckendorf. Thirty seconds later, she was back with a pair of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pyjama pants, which she handed to Percy. "Here you go! See you in the morning!" Percy raised an eyebrow at the pants but didn't question Silena. He figured he'd be less scarred not knowing.

Annabeth quickly opened the dresser drawer and pulled out the pyjamas. Then she ran for the adjoining bathroom, calling, "Shotty the bathroom first!" and slamming the door behind her. Percy rolled his eyes and flopped down on the bed (which was surprisingly soft) to wait for Annabeth. He heard her rummaging around in the bathroom for a few minutes, and then she screamed, "Gods _damn_ it, Silena! If you did this on purpose, I _swear_ , I'll…" Annabeth stopped yelling, but Percy could still hear her muttering a few choice swear words of her own in there. Percy wondered what all _that_ was about.

His confusion was solved a few minutes later when Annabeth stalked out of the bathroom, a murderous glare on her face and her clothes pressed up against what Percy was _assuming_ was her pyjama-clad body. "Uh, Wise Girl?" asked Percy.

Annabeth turned her glare on Percy and he shrank back a little bit. "What is it?" he questioned. Annabeth sighed and dropped her clothes to reveal the skimpy pyjamas Silena had left her: _Extremely_ tiny shorts and a skin-tight, slightly-too-small tank top. Percy blushed, took off his shirt and threw it at her. "Here, you can put this on if you want." Annabeth quickly grabbed up the CHB shirt and pulled it over her head. " _Thank_ you. Gods, I'm going to kill her."

"I didn't think they were _that_ bad," Percy muttered, blushing a little and hoping Annabeth hadn't heard. Unfortunately for him, she had.

"What was that you just said?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"N-nothing," stuttered Percy, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Good," said Annabeth.

For anyone who thought his and Annabeth's relationship was an all-open affair with sex, kissing a million times a minute and sharing a bed—well, all Percy had to say about that was those people were _completely_ wrong. Him and Annabeth definitely loved each other, but they didn't need a physical relationship to prove that to themselves. It was already proven in the times they'd saved each others' lives and helped each other through tough times. Their love was derived from the fact that they were two best friends who'd risk anything for each other, not from the fact that they had awesome sex or something. Percy _definitely_ wasn't ready for a physical relationship, and he was pretty sure Annabeth wasn't, either. Besides—he wanted everything like that to be special and at the right time, not rushed and half-hazard in the middle of a war, which he'd surely regret.

Annabeth flopped down on the bed in Percy's t-shirt with Silena's pyjamas underneath, and Percy took his turn in the bathroom. He didn't really do anything—Just changed from his jeans to the TMNT PJ pants and brushed his teeth.

When he came back out, Annabeth was under the covers on the left side of the bed. There was only a small lump in the covers where she was lying, so he figured she was curled up into a ball.

Percy went around to the right side of the bed and climbed in, shutting off the bedside lamp and plunging the room into darkness. He pulled all the blankets around him, trying to warm his freezing chest—he'd given his only shirt to Annabeth. Speaking of Annabeth, she started grumbling when she realized Percy had stolen all the covers, but Percy held onto them tight and tried not to let Annabeth yank them back.

"Percy," growled Annabeth. She grabbed at the blankets Percy was enveloped in, but he had them wrapped around him so many times there was no chance of Annabeth getting at them.

" _Percy_ ," she whined, trying a different tactic which Percy himself often used—being pouty. He grinned to himself. He _was_ taking the blankets to keep his chest warm… But he had to admit, it was also just to make Annabeth a little mad. What? She looked cute when she was mad.

He sighed and relented to her tugs, finally letting her take the blankets back. "G'night, Wise Girl," mumbled Percy sleepily. "Whatever, Seaweed Brain," muttered Annabeth grumpily. "Just let me keep the blankets or—HOLY HEPHAESTUS what IS that?!" she shrieked. Percy shot up in bed and turned on the lamp to see Annabeth cowering under the covers. All he could see of her were her frightened grey eyes and a mass of curly blond hair.

"What is it, Annabeth?" he asked, slightly annoyed at her loud screaming but mostly worried for her safety. "Sp-sp- _spider_!" she cried fearfully. "I touched it by accident and— _ew_ , gods, kill it, Percy, _kill it_!"

"Okay, okay, I'm on it," he replied, dutifully grabbing a Kleenex from the bathroom and using it to squish the fat black spider. He threw it in the toilet and when he came back, Annabeth sat frozen in the same position, shivering in disgust every few seconds.

"There," said Percy, "Gone."

"Thanks, Seaweed Brain, it's just you know me and sp—AH! PERCY! ANOTHER ONE! They say sp- _spiders_ always come in twos and apparently that's true because holy Hades there's another one and FOR THE LOVE OF ZEUS THERE'S THREE MORE OVER THERE! Percy oh gods _oh gods_ —"

Annabeth was hyperventilating now, and yelling at the top of her lungs—but she was right. Dozens of spiders were slowly crawling towards them from all over the room.

"PERCY!" shrieked Annabeth. "Grab Riptide from your pants—which, BY THE WAY, are still in the bathroom, and grab some daggers or swords from the weaponry dresser down the hall!"

Percy sprinted down the hall and opened up a greyish-looking wooden cabinet to find it full of weapons. He scooped up an armful and ran back to their room with them. "Annabeth, here!" he shouted, throwing her a dagger and dropping the rest of the swords and daggers on the bed.

"Don't put them _down_ , you Seaweed Brain!" cried Annabeth. "Pick them up, grab Riptide and let's GO!"

Percy blushed at his stupidity. He scrambled to collect all the daggers and swords quickly. Annabeth was already halfway out the door. "Hurry up!" she commanded, still sounding pretty terrified but somehow calmer now.

Percy yanked a pillow out of its case and dumped all the weapons into the now-empty pillowcase for easier transportation. Then he ran into the bathroom, rummaged through his jeans for Riptide, retrieved the sword and ran back out.

"What's going on?" he yelled to Annabeth, sprinting out the bedroom door behind her and slamming it shut. He had a feeling this was something more than just a few spiders.

"Arachne!" screamed Annabeth. "It's Arachne!" The whole house was filled with sounds of scuttling and hissing—the spiders were swarming the house, coming at them from all directions. If they didn't hurry, they'd be completely surrounded in a matter of minutes.

Percy and Annabeth scrambled down the stairs and debated which way to turn: Right to the front door, or left to the back door. "Back door!" yelled Percy, making an executive decision. He headed towards it but Annabeth yanked his pyjama pants waistband (he still had no shirt on), and motioned for him to follow her to the front door. Percy gave her a questioning look. "Nico!" she reminded him.

Right. Whoops.

Percy followed Annabeth into the living room, where Nico was sitting up, rubbing his eyes. "What's happening?" he mumbled. Percy could hardly hear him over the thundering noise of millions of spiders surrounding them. They'd invaded the house pretty fast. A few started coming in through the door, and Percy expected Annabeth to freak out like earlier, but she didn't. In fact, she only seemed to look braver.

"Nico, Arachne's spiders are invading the house! Percy killed her when we fell into Tartarus, but she must've reformed, and _clearly,_ she's not very happy with us!" explained Annabeth hurriedly. "She could show up any minute. We have to get out of here!"

Nico's eyes widened and he nodded. "Yeah, I guess so!" No one made a move to do anything.

Annabeth gestured to Nico. "Well? Shadow-travel us!"

Nico shook his head. "I can't! I don't have enough energy to take all of us! I could disappear, one of you could disappear, I could _die_! _Something_ will go wrong. There has to be another way to get out of here!"

Annabeth nodded, thinking hard. But after a few seconds, she just shook her head. "We need to shadow-travel. Percy's still dead, remember? Nico! How do we even make him… _Not_ dead?"

Nico snapped his fingers. "Oh, right!"

Annabeth stared at him. "Well? What?"

Nico blushed and shrugged sheepishly. "Um, I sort of forgot, but we have to go through an exit door guarded by Thanatos that kind of moves around all the time…"

Annabeth glowered at him. "So if I'm hearing you correctly, we have to walk _right_ past _Thanatos,_ the guy who lets _nobody_ cheat death, to bring Percy back to life?!" she yelled at Nico. _This really isn't his day,_ thought Percy. _Then again, it's not really my day either, considering I'm dead._

"Um… Maybe?"

"NICO DI ANGELO!" she screamed. " _YOU_ —You know what…? To Tartarus with it. Just follow me! And for gods' sake, _hurry_!"

Percy and Nico agreed without hesitation, running out the door behind Annabeth—and not a second too soon. Percy glanced back and saw a swarm of spiders scuttle into the living room, black and menacing. Then the whole house let out a groan. Percy wasn't sure why, but then he looked up to the roof and saw that Arachne herself, in all her spidery creepiness, was sitting atop it.

He ran up beside Annabeth and tapped her on the shoulder. "Um… Wise Girl?" he squeaked.

"What?" Annabeth panted. "Roof!" replied Percy.

Annabeth glanced back over her shoulder and at the sight of Arachne, widened her eyes. " _Vlakas_!" she scolded herself. "We should've gone quicker! She could see us!"

As if she'd been called, Arachne looked towards the three demigods and hissed. They were far enough away from the house that the big hairy freak would have to run pretty fast to catch up with them, but clearly Arachne was intent on doing so, because she took a flying leap off the roof and came scuttling towards them at top speed.

"Faster!" cried Annabeth. "Wait… Wait, where's Nico?"

Percy looked around, but Annabeth was right: Nico was nowhere in sight. "We have to stop and find him!" yelled Percy.

"No!" replied Annabeth. "We can't! He's the son of the god of the Underworld. I'm sure he's fine! Just keep going towards the bridged buildings!"

The pair ran off towards the buildings connected by bridges, Arachne trailing along behind them and quickly gaining speed.

"We have to hurry, Seaweed Brain!" wailed Annabeth. The two of them were panting hard now. They ran through the buildings, Percy trying to remember the way back to Elysium's entrance. Percy looked behind them. Arachne was nowhere to be seen.

"Stop!" commanded Percy. He grabbed Annabeth's shirt (which was really his own shirt) and pulled her back.

"What?" demanded Annabeth.

"Quiet!" said Percy. "Look around," he whispered. "Where's Arachne?"

Annabeth looked around. A crow cawed in the distance. There was no sign of the spider. She widened her eyes at Percy. "What…?"

"I don't know," he replied. Just then there was a low hiss. Percy's head shot up. There was Arachne, hanging from the silver bridge above them, white venomous foam spurting from her mouth.

" _Prepare to die, Annabethhhh Chaaaase and Perrrrcy Jacksssson_ ," she hummed. Then she dropped down from the bridge, fangs bared and claw-like legs outstretched.


	5. Chapter 5: Escaping Alive

Percy was already dead; concerning his own life, he had nothing to loose, so he wasn't too worried.

Actually, he took that back—he had Annabeth to loose.

Thinking fast, he scooped up a paralyzed-in-fear Annabeth (that filthy arachnid's stench was sickeningly sweet and, apparently, paralyzing for Annabeth) and threw her over his shoulder. Percy sprinted to the side just as Arachne came crashing down where they'd stood moments before. Since he had no plan, Percy decided to go for what he usually did when he was plan-less: Use his son-of-the-sea-god powers and then run away as far and as fast as his legs would take him.

Remembering the ocean they'd just run from, Percy prepared to use his powers while Arachne was recovering from her fall. She hissed in malice, stretching out a few legs that'd gotten crumpled when she'd landed on them.

Percy closed his eyes (which was probably dangerous, but how many options did he have at this point?) and concentrated on the ocean he'd sat staring at a few hours ago. He imagined the water lifting up and flowing over to him. He felt his gut wrench, and when he opened his eyes, there was a swirl of ocean water floating above him and Annabeth.

Percy set Annabeth—who, thankfully, was no longer paralyzed—back down on the ground. Then he lifted his arms up, yelled in defiance, and sent the water crashing down on Arachne. The impact of it contorted her features—she looked like she'd just been squished by a giant shoe. Her uglier-than-usual appearance made Percy want to snicker, but he didn't, and instead, focused on the task at hand. He gathered back up the water with his powers and trapped Arachne inside a quick, makeshift ocean water prison.

Finally, Percy raised the water-encased Arachne high into the sky. Then he released all control and watched as she fell to the ground. A large _crack_ resonated from the spot where she hit the pavement.

Percy stared at the creature for a moment. Arachne twitched and her legs curled inwards. Percy recognized it as a trait of a spider dying; It was like their own version of the fetal position.

Percy pulled Riptide out of his back pocket and clicked the pen open. His sword sprung out with a metallic-sounding _clink_ , and Percy walked over to Arachne. He stood above her and glared into her red, evil eyes with a gaze of pure hatred. "This is for hurting Annabeth," he growled, and then he shoved Riptide right through Arachne's bulky body.

The giant arachnid-human hybrid let out a creepy, ear-splitting wail and erupted into a pile of golden dust.

Percy put his sword away and rested his elbows on his knees, catching his breath. Annabeth came up behind him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Percy? You okay?" She sounded kind of scared.

He stood up and brushed his hands off on his pants. "Yeah. Just tired… And sick of it all, you know?"

"I know," she replied. "Trust me, I know. _We_ know almost better than anyone."

Percy stood up and the two of them hugged for a couple minutes, just enjoying each other's presence. Percy was glad he was back with Annabeth again; it seemed the two of them were always being separated. He wanted all the wars between the gods to be over already so him and Annabeth could relax (preferably _together_ ) for once.

"So. I guess we should head for the entrance…?" Percy suggested.

"Yeah," replied Annabeth. "Should we try and find Nico?"

Percy shrugged. "We could Iris message him, I guess, but honestly, he probably just shadow-travelled himself out of here because he was too lazy to run." _Yeah, and also too lazy to take him and Annabeth with him,_ thought Percy, kind of pissed at Nico for leaving them behind to deal with Arachne.

"Probably," agreed Annabeth. With that, the two headed for Elysium's entrance, Percy in the lead.

• • •

"It should be right around here," muttered Percy. He and Annabeth were standing amidst a crowd of ghosts and spirits, trying to look around or through them for a way out of Elysium. Percy had sworn the entrance was right in that area, but apparently it was no longer there.

"Oh," replied Annabeth rather unintelligently for a daughter of Athena. "Oh… Oh, there!" she perked up, pointing at something in the distance. "See the big gate doors behind that mob of ghosts in the Hawaiian shirts and kaki shorts? Is that it—the entrance?"

Percy followed Annabeth's pointing finger and his gaze rested upon two enormous wooden gate doors with beautiful designs and scenes of heroes fighting carved into it. He vaguely remembered passing through the doors on his way in almost a day ago.

"Yup, that's it," said Percy happily. Then he scowled. "But, uh, we can't exactly get out."

Annabeth frowned. "I didn't think of that. I guess we can just wait until the next ghost gets accepted into Elysium and sneak out the doors while they're open."

"Good idea," agreed Percy. The pair backed up against the wall and held hands, waiting for the next deceased hero to pass through the gate into Elysium. Percy twisted to face Annabeth and kissed her nose. "Have you thought about how it's possible that we can hold hands and hug and kiss and stuff, considering I'm technically a ghost?" Percy asked, more than a little confused about how he could make contact with a living human being.

"Not until now, no," replied Annabeth, wrinkling her brow in confusion. "I wonder if it's because a dead person in the Underworld becomes sort of life-like and substantial, and a living person in the Underworld becomes more ghostly and wraithlike. Therefore, we'd be closer to each other substance-wise, which would allow us to successfully touch each other without, say, your face going right through mine."

"That made absolutely no sense at all," stated Percy plainly.

"You didn't have to understand it, Seaweed Brain," replied Annabeth. "Just me thinking out loud. You'll be alive again soon so we won't have to worry about anomalies like this."

"True," agreed Percy. "But I'm still curious."

"Well—" Annabeth was cut off by a large groaning and the sound of wood scraping against stone. Percy looked to the side and saw the doors to Elysium open wide.

"Okay," he whispered to Annabeth. "On the count of three. One—" The doors ground to a stop loudly. "Two—" A couple official-looking ghosts walked in, followed by a ghost dressed in demigod battle clothes (A.K.A., jeans and a t-shirt). "Three!" He and Annabeth sprinted through the gate while the official-looking ghosts weren't paying attention. They were still holding hands, and Percy was praying to all the gods that they'd make it out this first set of doors. If they couldn't even break Percy out of Elysium, he'd never make it past the exit guarded by Thanatos.

Him and Annabeth weaved their way in between the mobs of ghosts milling about outside Elysium, running full bore all the way across the enormous pit-like room. Percy had no clue where he was going—he'd only ever been to the Underworld a couple times, and he hadn't exactly had the chance to explore when he'd died—so he basically just ran to the adjoining pit exit that looked the darkest and scariest.

Him and Annabeth ran for a good ten minutes before finally stopping to catch their breaths. They hadn't been sure if anyone was following them or not, so Percy had figured, when in doubt, run.

"So," breathed Annabeth. "Where to now?" Percy shrugged. Apparently they had to find some random exit which moved around all the time and which was, according to plenty of sources, nearly impossible to find.

"I can't wait to be alive again," blurted Percy. "I mean, being a ghost is so _awkward._ I never feel like I'm fully _here_ , you know?"

"Well," said Annabeth, "I've never been dead so I haven't really experienced anything like that. But in another sense… Yeah. Yeah, I know."

Percy hugged Annabeth then—Because he loved her and because he was a good boyfriend, but mostly because he felt like Annabeth, right then and there, just seemed like she needed a hug.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," replied Annabeth, hugging him tight. Eventually, they pulled apart from each other, and Percy sighed. "Off to find the exit?" Annabeth sighed back at him. "Off to find the exit."

• • •

About a half hour later (Percy wasn't sure if that was exact or not—time was weird in the Underworld), him and Annabeth were still running through tunnels when Annabeth put her arm out in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. "Percy," she said, a hint of excitement in her voice. "What's that?" Annabeth pointed to the rock wall beside them. The tiniest sliver of white light was peeking out from between a crack in the rock. "Do you think…?"

Percy's eyes widened. "The exit, maybe?"

Annabeth touched the spot above the light source. "Hm… I wonder if there's a hidden— _Di immortales!_ " Percy had leaned against the opposite wall, a weird _click_ had rung through the silent hallway and the floor had quickly dropped a good six feet, sending both of them off balance and then sprawling on top of each other. They stood up and looked towards the light source, which was now in plain sight and the shape of a doorframe.

Percy looked at Annabeth. Annabeth looked at Percy. The two kissed slowly, and when they pulled apart, Percy grabbed Annabeth's hand and together they stepped into the hole of light.

• • •

Percy squeezed his eyes shut and held firmly onto Annabeth's hand. A few seconds after they stepped into the light (literally), Percy and Annabeth had felt a jolt and the floor had seemed as if it were rising. What was probably about five minutes later, they were still rising.

"Annabeth?" whispered Percy, but he couldn't hear his own voice so he tried again louder. "Annabeth!"

"What?" she yelled back.

"What about Thanatos?" he asked. Nico had said Thanatos would be here guarding the doors, but nothing had stopped them from entering.

"Probably chasing someone who tried to get in here!" she replied.

"Oh." Percy couldn't help wondering if Nico had had anything to do with their easy escape.

More time passed—Percy wasn't sure how much. Then there was another jolt, and the movement of whatever room they were in (possibly an elevator if this thing was like the Doors of Death) stopped.

Percy squeezed Annabeth's hand. Annabeth squeezed back. Then they turned around and stepped towards the way they'd walked into the light.

Percy was _not_ expecting what happened next. It felt like they were dropping, and when he opened his eyes, he gasped.

Percy and Annabeth were aboard the Argo II. They'd been deposited (by whatever force that pit of light had been) in the mess hall of the ship. Jason, Piper, Leo, Frank, Hazel, Nico and Coach Hedge were all sitting around the dining room table, staring at them with looks of confusion and awe (all except Nico, who looked kind of smug, that little son of a—Um, Hades).

Annabeth glanced at Percy, and he smiled at her. He couldn't explain how, but he knew he was alive again. He felt whole, solid, and present. Just... alive.

Leo cleared his throat. "Um…" He didn't continue, so Jason did for him.

"Holy Styx! What _happened_?"

"Actually," muttered Leo, "I was gonna say 'Why's Percy wearing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pyjama pants and shirtless while Annabeth has _only_ a shirt on,' but whatever."

Percy looked at Annabeth, his gaze full of love and happiness. Without Annabeth, he would be dead and lonely right then. But she'd saved him once again, and he couldn't even begin to express his gratitude. He figured it was a give-and-take thing—You save my life, I save yours—and he'd get his chance to save Annabeth again sooner or later (hopefully later).

Percy and Annabeth stared at each other for a little while, happy to be together and alive. Percy grinned. "It's a long story."

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

 **And that's the end of the story! :) Hope you liked it!**

 **—ImpulsesOfLife**


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